Chapter 8

Cherine was taken by ambulance to the burn facility in the Université Médicale de l'Hôpital in Paris where she was admitted to surgery as soon as she arrived.

Mok ordered Toad to drive him, Laurette, and Phillipe to the hospital and they waited for word on their mother's condition.

Back on the estate, Angel and the workers watched as the fire department put out the flames from the abandoned house. Every since she saw the fire, Angel asked herself of how the fire came to be and why Cherine was in the house and how she got there.

She realized that the house was now a crime scene, but all of the evidence had either been burned or washed away. However, if she could gain the police captain's trust she might be able to enter.

She found Harold and she pulled him aside. "I need you to translate, you do speak French?" Angel asked.

"I did say that I do," Harold answered, "However, you should ask if he speaks English." Angel nods and they met with Captain Fabrice Voclain.

"Captain, excusez-moi," Angel said and the police captain looks at her. Captain Voclain was a cat humanoid with gray fur and yellow-green eyes. He looks her over, almost as if she was an escaped criminal.

"Parlez-vous anglais?" Angel asked and Voclain gave a sneer.

"You Americans have horrible accents," he replied and Angel felt offended, "Yes, I do speak English. And who are you?" he asked.

"Angel Lyons-Swagger, my husband is Mok Swagger. His mother is-" "I know, I know," Voclain interrupted and says, "What is it you want?"

"This house is a crime scene, I have the feeling the fire was set deliberately, with the intention to kill Cherine Desrosiers," Angel said and Voclain raised an eyebrow.

"And do you know who would want to kill the Comtesse Desrosiers?" he asked.

"No, but I know Cherine-" Voclain held up a hand, stopping her from finishing.

"Here's what I think, the comtesse is dying from breast cancer, but she did not want to go through the pain, so she sets fire on herself just to speed up the process," he replied and Angel looks at him in shock and disbelief.

"What?! Captain, why would she do that?" Angel asked, but Voclain gave a sniff.

"I did say she did not want to go through the pain," he replied. Angel wanted to slap him for speaking ill of Mok's mother.

"Captain, the comtesse has been looking for her son, Mok for years and they just met yesterday. Now, I know it is a long way from the main chateau to here, but the comtesse is mostly wheelchair-bound and she can't walk for long periods of time and it was around midnight when I noticed the fire," Angel explained.

Voclain looked bored when he heard Angel's explanation. "Listen Captain, Cherine loves her son Mok, and she would never attempt suicide, especially not at a time like this," Angel adds.

"From what I heard, the comtesse had made a new will and she was going to disinherit her legitimate children and give everything to Mok Swagger," Voclain said and Angel's hands formed into fists.

"Mok is her legitimate child," she said, but Voclain gave a laugh.

"Oh really? Did the comtesse every tell you about the annulment?" he asked and Angel looked confused. "Oh she didn't. You see, over twenty years ago when the young Cherine Beaulieu came back from Canada, her parents had her marriage to Redford Swagger be declared null and void. With that, Mok Swagger was labeled as the illegitimate child of Cherine Beaulieu," Voclain explained and Angel and Harold stood there in utter disbelief.

"But...I don't understand, Cherine said-" "She said she was married to that...how do you say it? A self-absorbed bastard? Well, why don't you ask her? Believe me, when Cherine abandoned her family, it was quite the scandal," Voclain said and was about to turn away. "I'll let you poke around this place, but if you injury yourself in there, don't blame me," he adds and walks away.

"Egli è il bastardo egocentrico," Harold said in Italian and Angel knew what he said.

When the police left, Angel and Harold looked around the burned out house. Cherine's wheelchair remained where it was, but the fabric had been incarcerated.

"If Cherine came out here, it would take a long time, I say maybe hours. Anyone would be able to stop her," Harold said and he and Angel continued to search the house.

"I think someone brought her here, to kill her," Angel said and she pointed to something on the floor. It was a gun, it had survived the fire, and Angel took it by her sleeve.

Just then, her cell phone rang, and she answered. "Angel, it's me, did you find a gun anywhere?" Mok asked.

"Yes, how do you know?" she replied.

"Mother has a bullet wound in her shoulder, it did not sever a major artery, but I believe, and I suspect you do, too, that someone wanted to kill her," he said and Angel heard a depressed sigh.

"I would like to see her, is she out of surgery?" Angel asked.

"Yes, but I'm afraid she can't talk anymore, her vocal cords were damaged from the flames," Mok replied, but that didn't dampen Angel's spirits.

"There are other ways to communicate. I'll be there in a little bit," Angel said and hang up.

"Who would want to kill Cherine? She's an old lady," Harold said to her.

"She told me she made a new will and whoever tried to kill her wants to prevent the new will from coming to light," Angel replied and the two went to the hospital.

()()()()()()()()()

Angel and Harold found Mok sitting beside his mother, who was covered in gauze. Angel thought she smelled the scent of burned flesh and it was a nauseating scent.

Cherine looks up at Angel and tries to smile. "I'm very sorry, if I had not been careless, you would not be in such a state," she said to her mother-in-law.

Cherine tried to shake her head, but she could not move due to the gauze. "60% of her body is completely burned. She is in critical condition, if she survives the first 24 hours, it will be a miracle," Mok said to his wife.

Angel nods and looks at Cherine, "Do you mind if I ask questions?" she asked Cherine, "Before I do, do you know how to communicate with your eyes? You blink once for yes and twice for no, do you understand?"

Cherine blinked once and Angel began. "Did you go out to the house by yourself?" Cherine blinked twice.

"Did someone take you there?" She blinked once. "Was it someone you know?" Once. "Did he or she shoot you first?" Once. "Was it deliberate?" Twice. "It was an accident?" Cherine did not blink and Angel knew she was not sure.

Then Cherine poked at Angel's pocket and she was about to reach her hand in it, but Cherine shook her head. Angel decided to check it out later and she decided to ask more questions.

"Cherine, is it true that your marriage to Redford was declared null and void after you came back to France?" Cherine blinked once.

"An annulment?" Mok asked and Angel told him what Captain Voclain told her.

"So, I can't inherit anything if she dies?" he asked, but Cherine blinked twice. She poked at Angel's pocket, again, and Angel knew that whatever Cherine wrote on the piece of paper was a clue.

"Cherine, I promise you I'll find whoever is responsible for everything they have done to you and they'll be brought to justice," Angel assured her mother-in-law. "I'm going back to the mansion, I'm sure whatever she had written must be somewhere on the property," she whispered to her husband.

"Be careful, I have a feeling that whoever tried to kill her will come after you," Mok replied and Angel nods.

"Mommy?" Emmy said, "I need to tell you something."

"What is it?" Angel asked and the little girl motioned her fingers for her mother to come down to her level. Her father did too and Emmy whispers, "Uncle Phillipe hit grandma last night."

"What?" Angel asked in a horrified tone. Mok was shocked to hear that and looks at his mother. He looks her over and discovers a black and blue bruise on Cherine's left cheek.

"Why didn't you tell us earlier?" Angel asked her daughter, but Emmy shushed her.

"Uncle Phillipe said he will kill you and daddy if I tell anyone," she whispered back.

Angel immediately realized that Phillipe was behind everything, but her family and Cherine were in danger. However, she had to go back to the property to find some sort of evidence that would point Phillipe as the culprit.

"I have to find the will," she said to herself. She turned to face Toad, "If you see Phillipe, don't let him in here and don't tell him where I have gone," she ordered him and he straightens up.

Angel then left the hospital and went back to the Desrosiers' estate. However, she was unaware that someone was watching and following her.


From the author: Let's just hope that Angel will solve this mystery and catch the culprit. Stay tuned!